A Private Branch Exchange (usually abbreviated PBX) is a telephone switch that serves a selected group of users and that usually provides access to the public switched network. Many early PBX systems provided a record of the calls that originated in the PBX or that where received by the PBX by printing this information concerning such calls on a paper tape. The information about calls made and received by the PBX where called Station Message Detail Recordings. The name Station Message Detail Recording is generally abbreviated SMDR and such records are often referred to as SMDR messages.
Modern PBX systems are generally electronic computerized systems that can provide wide array of services. With the advent of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, modern PBX systems allow voice to be routed as data packets over the Internet or over private networks.
For a variety of reasons, modern PBX systems, including VoIP systems, produce SMDR messages. Today, there are many different types of PBX systems that produce SMDR messages and furthermore some PBX systems produce the SMDR messages in accordance with proprietary and different protocols.
There is a need for a universal system for recording interpreting and providing access to SMDR messages.